Lately I just haven’t felt like playing an MMO. While I really enjoy WoD, I dislike that the first hour or so of every play session is spent working on my garrison. By the time I’m done with them I want to take a break and some days that’s the only time I have to play. Logging in just to do garrisons gets a bit boring. I had this same issue with Pandaria and dailies. I hate logging in JUST to do dailies. It makes game play seem like work and chores. Why do I want to pay $15 a month just to do chores (I don’t).

I had started playing ArcheAge a bit, but just like Rift, there’s something ‘missing’ for me in that game. I can’t pinpoint what it is, maybe it’s the graphics? Maybe it’s the hands off crafting system? Maybe it feels too generic? I have no idea. Whatever it is, even though I have friends playing I just haven’t felt like joining in.

I’m still playing WildStar and having a lot of fun there but again lacking some of my usual desire to log in and play for a few hours each day. Maybe it’s just this time of year? In any case, it’s most certainly a ‘me’ thing and not the fault of the games that I typically enjoy. The only MMO that I have still logged into regularly has been Wurm Online, my sandbox of choice.

Of course I feel a bit guilty not playing an MMO, especially if I’m paying for one. Take EQ2 for example. I purchased a year of subscription on not one but two accounts earlier this year as well as the new expansion, and I have barely even played. Now typically I don’t get all upset about these things because playing games is one of my main hobbies, and that means I have a budget for spending that I stay within, but looking back I have to wonder at my decisions. Maybe in the new year I’ll work on being a bit more thrifty with those game choices.

In any case, I’m still gaming even though I’m not feeling the desire to hop into an MMO. I’m perfectly content playing single player games like The Sims 4 (an update to professions and jobs soon!) and Dragon Age. Maybe it’s just a simple matter that the more hectic my life seems, the more I want to play single player games. I’m sure I’ll be all excited to dive back into MMOs before too long (knowing me, next week or maybe after that Steam sale coming up December 18th).

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4 Comments

Gozad

I know exactly what you mean. I have a lifetime sub with The Secret World, but haven’t played that in over half a year, and I feel like I should try to get back into it because I did pay for that lifetime sub, but then I just don’t have an urge to play it.

I have been wanting to get back into an MMO for awhile but nothing is drawing me in. Last one I enjoyed was SWTOR, but even with their recent 6x XP promo, it wasn’t enough to get me back in.

I would really love to be playing Vanguard right now actually. That is one game I could really get back into. I wonder if there will ever be a player run server, or some kind of revival. Probably not though, which is sad.

I don’t feel guilty for not necessarily wanting to play. Recently I’ve been a little burned out on MMO’s, but FFXIV is pretty decent, and TSW just added in Issue 10, so I can still pop in to them when I need a fix.

OTOH, I’m now on a business trip with just my work laptop that I can’t play games on, so I’ll have a break from games for about 5 days and I don’t expect I’ll be missing them either.

pasmith

For me it’s that I can play a single player game and enjoy all of the game I’ve paid for without having to chain myself to another person. Also I can actually finish it, which gives me a sense of accomplishment.

I have paid for FF XIV since launch which is really silly since I only play it very sporadically, but I like the IP so much that I feel almost like I’m making donations to keep it healthy. LOL So I don’t really feel guilty.

I’m that rare breed that doesn’t play MMOs for the social aspects. I play them for the virtual world aspect; I like that MMOs are always changing and being expanded upon. These days so many single player games get a ton of DLC means that they too get expanded upon at least for a while, and I know my attention span will give out before the DLC does. Combine that with the new popularity of open-world games and really I don’t feel a need for MMOs anymore, unless they do something really different and unique. So I still dabble in Landmark just because of the crazy building tools, but I never interact with another player.

I have a post coming up that talks a little about my drift away from MMOs in favor of single-player things. Part of it is indeed the subscription; if I’m paying every month I feel obliged to play a lot and get my money’s worth. More subtly, you can’t save your game in an MMO. Or maybe it’s always saved automatically, I dunno. A single-player game can be paused when I need a sammich or something. If I tried that in EVE I would come back to floating debris.